Sunbeam

The Sunbeam Motorcar Company Ltd has its roots in John Marston Co. Ltd, a company founded by John Marston in Wolverhampton, U.K., in1888 to produce bicycles and motorcycles. The first Sunbeam car was built in 1901 in partnership with Maxwell Maberly-Smith. In 1905, the Sunbeam Motorcar Company Ltd was established as a separate business. Sunbeams were high quality cars and became also famous for being the first British car to win a Grand Prix race and for five land speed records. Sunbeam fell victim of the Great Depression and went bankrupt in 1935, being sold to the Rootes Group.